


I always knew, but did you? Chapter 10 Abridged

by Spn_Life_2005 (orphan_account)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: I always knew but did you abridged, M/M, Mentions of Rape, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Rape/Non-con Elements, Underage Rape/Non-con, Violence, abridged chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 16:52:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10745880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Spn_Life_2005
Summary: Chapter 10 for: I always knew, but did you? Abridged, less violence, less mentions of rape, just a lighter version of the other chapter.This is the story of how the boys grew to care for each other, protect each other.Its the story of how their love proceeded over time and no one, not even their own kin managed to tear them apart.What really happened when they were young?What happens when one of them leaves voluntarily?AU-ish, in which the universe tries to drive Sam and Dean apart, but it never works. Not even by their own will.





	I always knew, but did you? Chapter 10 Abridged

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).
  * A translation of [I always knew, but did you?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10142522) by [Spn_Life_2005 (orphan_account)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Spn_Life_2005). 



> Dont read this chapter without reading the fic itself first, SPOILER ALERT!  
> Original fic: http://archiveofourown.org/works/10142522/chapters/22544060

*Hospital*

Once Weiss and the rest made it to meet up with John and Joe, they entered through the back door where the previous men had exited, and left it open in their hurries. Scoping, the first few hallways were clear, but sounds and conversation were coming in from within the hospital and John realized they definitely weren't alone. Apparently, they had entered by the west wing, (if the rusted signs hanging from the ceiling were any indication) but this part of the hospital was truly abandoned, the whole place was completely insurvivable, layers of grime, dirt and rust,.

 

The smell was vomit inducing, truly horrendous, and it had the other hunters gagging for their lives. John however was completely unfazed, he had witnessed the burning flesh of his wife in person; a little mold really wouldn't do him much harm. Especially because he was hell bent on getting to the sons of bitches that took his son. Who would even have the audacity to mess with John Winchester's son? Granted, it's not like they knew him but, oh they would, and he would make sure they would never forget his face.

 

As they pointed their guns and flashlights at every door, room and opening, right and left, they stumbled across a large area, one that had clear signs of have being used, the dirt, mold, and stray leaves that entered due to the wind through broken windows, had been brushed aside providing a clear way of passage from whoever was to access the doors in the next hallway. Conspicuously, and very very quietly, John and the other hunters made their way down the hallway with only the soft shuffling of shoes against dirty tiles.

 

Whispering a 'clear, all clear' for every room examined, they got to a door that had the obvious noise of someone trying very hard to stay quiet. John and Weiss perched themselves on the doorframe, and with a signal, kicked the door open, while Joe and Frank guarded their backs for any guards. As soon as they nearly busted the door to the ground, there was a loud yelp from inside, and they were met face to face with a child, a teenage girl, that couldn't have been more than fifteen years old huddled against the farthest corner of the room, in only interior clothing, wrists bound by a chain to the ground, and the foot of one of the metal beds in hand. And to be honest, John was a little amused at her bravery, for she was bound to chains in the ground. 

"Hey, hey it’s okay, we're here to get you out of here" said Joe in an oddly calm tone, like he'd done this before and was some expert in calming people in the worst moments. The girls shoulders slumped a little and she opened her mouth as if to say something, but gave up on it immediately. John forced some movement into his shocked body and moved towards the chain, but he had a better idea.

 

"Cover your eyes" he told the girl, and she did so, dropping the sharp metal bar in her hands and using them to cover her face defensively. The gunshot startled almost everyone, it was loud in the silence of the hospital, but he managed to remove the chains attachment to the floor. They had to hurry now; everyone must have heard that and was probably on their way to the loud noise.

 

"Hurry, hurry c'mon, let's go." Said Weiss from the door, obviously having heard people coming.

 

Joe lurched forward picking the girl up and linking her over his shoulder, there really wasn't any time to get rid of the cuffs, but even if they would have been removed, she was too weak to walk properly, she had a look in her eyes that said  _ **strong**_ , but her body said otherwise. For a split second John paused and thought about how long she might have been in this hellhole, locked up and used, he wondered of all the torturous things they might have done to her, how damaged she actually was, if she had someone out there looking for her, or missing her. His thoughts were abruptly cut in half by the sound of bullets, and they were coming from the other side of the hallway. ' _Shit, how did they get here so quickly?_ '

 

"Let's go! Let's go!" Was heard from the other side, and John heard.. three? Four? Pairs of footsteps. Jake and Weiss were huddled against the door frame of the room across from them, casually popping their heads out to shoot whenever they heard movement.  And they were wasting time, they needed a distraction, so John took the jump, and before Joe managed to protest or barely even open his mouth, John was out into the open fire.

 

For a minute, John was convinced that if there was anyone upstairs, they were lending him a hand right now, because the second he stepped out, three of the guns ran out of bullets, and all that was heard was the 'click' 'click' of empty guns. Which gave him the chance to put five bullets in three of the men's legs, but one of them ran off, leaving the other three unarmed and wounded to four hunters. ' _Big mistake buddy_ ', John thought, ' _you're next_ '.

 

Frank, Weiss and John zip tied the men to some A/C tubing against the wall successfully knocking them out, and cleared them from any weapons they might have. And Joe decided it would be best if he and the girl stayed behind, she had some wounds to tend to, and handcuffs to get out of.

 

The three of them made it to what seemed to have once been the main entrance / lobby, and they found more traces of people having been there recently. But there were no sounds or people, and there were more floors to cover, so they split up, Weiss and Frank went up, and John would cover the basement. As John made his way down the stair way, there were distinct sounds of people talking, more like murmuring, but it was audible. Checking his bullets and cooking his gun, he made it to the basement past the parking garage, after making sure it was empty.

 

When he got to the double doors that led to the basement, he was surprised to find them unlocked, 'Maybe they hadn't heard the gunshots?' He thought. But he wasn't ready to risk being wrong, so he walked in cautious and quiet, like he had learned to do in his past. But when he caught a glimpse of what was in the dark, his breath caught in his throat. There were human sized  _crates._  And he could barely see anything due to the darkness, but there definitely were people inside, and  _gosh_  why on earth was it so  _cold?!_

 

"Psst, hey! HEY!" a voice yell-whispered, making John flip and almost topple over with the speed. 

 

"What?!" He replied to the random voice coming from seemingly nowhere.

 

"You better hide man, they're going to be back soon" the voice whispered again, this time from a different place than the first time. And well, John knew a tip when he heard one, so he took place far back in the basement, away from the only entrance/exit. And just as the voice had whispered, not more than two minutes later, two men, about John's size walked into the room and switched the lights on, making every bit of the room visible, and for once, John was glad he took advice from a stranger.

 

"Jackson, what in the ever-living fuck are you doing down here?" A deep voice asked, but John was hid too far back to catch  _who_  it was coming from.

 

"U-uhh.. sorry sir, I was um.. just checking on them" another voice muttered, and that was it! That was the one that whispered to John in the dark. Turning slightly to catch a better look, he saw his face, it was a young man, older than the girl they rescued, but not as old as the men whom he was speaking to.

 

"Yeah yeah J, get a move on." The men said almost in unison. And with that, the younger man was dismissed, only looking back to John once, when he was at the door, and was sure the other men weren't looking, he gave John a nod, as in permission to go ahead, and John gave him an equal gesture in thanks.

 

The men began checking crates from the right side of the room to the left, locking them, talking to each other, and making sure the chains were in place. It was only a matter of time before they found him. None of the subjects inside the crates said a single word or even made a sound. There was a minimum of six kids in the crates, at least that John could see, and two of them were older, around their teenage years, but the spot behind a storage box really didn't give him a good view. The men split up, to cover more ground and finish the task quicker.

 

One of the men that had come to check the crates, wandered too close to where John was sitting patiently with a knife in hand, and the second John leaped up, he made a clean kill, severing the man’s throat. Placing the man down gently, he managed to make a completely silent murder, not alarming the other guard in the process, but maybe scaring the child in the crate nearest to him.

 

Making a 'shh' motion with his hand to his mouth; he managed to persuade the child into acting a little more normal, so as to not warn the others. But everyone knew he was there, thanks to Jackson's advice, now he just had to pray that none of them were fond of the guards so as to warn them. By the time the other man made it halfway through his task, he realized that his partner wasn't there or at least not anywhere in sight.

 

"Tay?" The man questioned to the silence. "Tay you there man?" He continued, as he tip toed closer to where John was.

 

 "C'mon man, this crap ain't funny; you know m'super easy to scare. Don't do that Tay." And in his monologue he managed to make it just where John had perfect access to his back. As he leaped up like a frog, he cut clean through, once again managing a quick silent kill. This time, the man hit the floor with an audible thump, and out came Jackson that had been hiding so well, not even John had heard him.

 

"Oh my god, you did it... you- you killed them." He said out loud in awe, one of his hands coming to cup around his face in shock.

 

"Yeah. Who are you?" Asked John, eyeing the kid with obvious distrust.

 

"O-oh! I'm Jackson," the boy said, taking three long strides and crossing the room with his hand extended to John in a hand shake. And very warily he took the boys hand and shook it with a firm grip.

 

"Wow uh you've got quite a grip" said Jackson, nervously.

 

"M-maybe you can help me get them out of here?" He said, looking at John who nodded in agreement.

 

"Great! Um.. the keys.." He said looking at one of the dead corpses, and John assumed that was the 'Tay' one. Bending down and unclipping the Keychain from the man's belt loop, he took three keys, and gave the other three to Jackson.

 

The both of them made their way across the room testing keys on crates, and taking the subjects within, out with extreme care, for most of them were either wounded or really weak, some of them looked like they hadn't eaten in days. One of the older kids looked a little healthier and helped out in carrying the other kids out with an arm around his neck. Just as they made it to the door, Jackson and the older boy turned around and thanked John for saving them.

 

"Anytime," he replied, and that was the first time in a long time he really felt happy for someone, but all of that was drained away when he looked back and remembered all these men had done, and how much they still had left to pay.

 

Making his way back to the lobby, he found Weiss, Frank, Joe, the girl, and two more children along with them, all sitting neatly next to a line of zipped up, knocked out, guards in their thirties and forties including the ones they left in the warehouse.

 

Weiss and Frank quickly came to aid the kids and tended to their care sitting them down in blue plastic chairs and trying to get them to speak.

 

"Joe, man how did you-?" John asked in shock of how everything was so well organized, but was cut off by a dismissive hand thrown in the air.

 

"Really it's nothing man, Weiss and Frank found like two more of those assholes upstairs and a few more kids, the shit they said was up there is fucked up man." Joe said in disgust.

 

"Yeah no kidding, these kids were in fucking crates." He said to him. And Joe made a shocked face in response.

 

" _Crates?! "_ he asked in complete terror.

"Man we have to get these kids to a hospital or something." He said, not waiting for John's reply.

 

"What?! No way Joe!”  John hated having to explain his plan to other people, he wished they would just trust him and let him do his job, like he knew how to, better than anyone. But Joe wasn’t going to give up that easily and John wasn’t in the mood for arguing in front of ten wounded children.

 

“First, we're going to interrogate these sons of bitches, and make them  _pay_  for what they've done. Second, we're not leaving them alive to be able to just get out of jail someday and do this again, and third, we can't take these kids to a hospital! They're going to arrest every single one of us, no matter  _what_  those kids say we didn't do, and I don't know about you, but getting involved with the law is absolutely the last thing I want to do." Explained John.

 

"Okay, you're right, maybe the hospital  _is_  a bad idea, but what do you suggest we do? It's not like we can  _leave_  them here!" Exclaimed Joe,

 

"No we can't, and that's exactly why when Johnny boy here is done with his torture session, and we're clear out of the area, we make an anonymous call to the police, telling them to pick the kids up. They'll be fine for half an hour without us."  Frank said, chiming in.

 

“There you go Joe, your answer.” Said John with an ‘I told you so’ hand gesture. Frustrated, but convinced Joe huffed a breath of air and walked away towards the kids settling them in one of the bigger rooms in the hallway.

 

When Joe was done checking on the children and making sure no one was in immediate danger of dying anytime soon, he closed the door and nodded to John an ‘all clear’ and so the fun began. John’s decision to start with the man that he found harassing his son went unquestioned, and sitting the still unconscious man on the seat he woke him up with a slap across the face; ‘This is going to be fun’.

 

“Morning sunshine!” John piped in an obnoxiously happy tone when the man groggily opened his eyes, adjusting to the light change, it was much darker in here than it was out there, so the reaction was only comprehensive.

 

“Thought you were going to sleep through all the fun!” he continued while sharpening his knife against a pebble he found lying on the floor, as he paced left and right in front of the man with an evil smirk on his face, that made him look like he was seriously enjoying this, and who knew? Maybe he was.

 

“Who the hell are you?” the man asked once he came to, and his question immediately brought out a serious look on John’s face, one that was more intimidating than it had any right to be.

 

“No no no…” he tsked  “You see,  _I’m_  the one asking the questions here, ‘kay?” said John waving his blade in the air like it was nothing, and  _really,_  who was going to say anything to  _that?_ But the man had other ideas, and decided to poke at the already angry tiger. So the man just nodded, and locked his gaze on something unimportant lying on the floor to try and evade the death threatening looks John was throwing him, but just as he had planned, a second later he had John crouched in front of him, blade under his chin, tipping his face towards him, and poking him in the throat in a very unfriendly manner. Right then and there he took his chance, and  _spit_ in John’s face, the line of saliva trickling down from the bridge of his nose slowly. And John (the patient saint he is) brought the other hand up and wiped the spit from his face slowly in awe, but of course that didn’t last long because he was immediately punching the man across the jaw. The man went unfazed, looked to his left and spit the blood out of his mouth, and just to push a little further, smiled at John, bloody teeth and all. But all that got him was John stabbing the man’s left thigh without a second of hesitation, seemingly ripping a yelp out of the man’s lungs.

 

“Now,” he spoke, “We can do this the easy way,” John said, “Or the hard way” he concluded, and at this point the man was panting in pain groaning loudly, but John was pretty sure the man understood a threat when he heard one because immediately he replied.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean big boy?” he said smirking though the pain, hissing when John took his hand off the blade.

 “o-OH!” the man exclaimed, seeing the overly aggravated expression on John’s face “This is about that fine piece of ass you interrupted my conversation with isn’t it?” he questioned, twisting his face to catch John’s reaction.

“Why yes it is! Ohhahahaha, what was it that he called you? ‘Daddy?’ Oh now that’s just  _kinky”_  The man continued, but all he got for his troubles was another blow to the face and John removed the knife that still in the man’s thigh, bringing it up to his neck.

 

“Don’t you dare talk about my son like that, you really don’t know who you’re messing with.” He said, pressing the blade in, for emphasis.

 

“Oh I would  _never!_  He has absolutely the  _tightest_  little ass, I highly appreciate i-” The man started off, but was immediately cut off by another one of John’s punches, thankfully he closed his mouth before it got to him or he would have swallowed his hand. This one managed to knock him out for a second, but John didn’t allow him to relish in it, shoving his fingers in the man’s hair and pulling to get him to eye level.

 

“Listen smartass, I want to know exactly what you did to my son, and if you’re lucky, I won’t reenact it on you.” John threatened again, ‘ _Man it really isn’t getting to him is it?_ ’

 

“Oh that’s what you want big boy? Wanna know exactly  _how_  I took that hot little ass of his? How good it felt? Wanna know how  _pretty_  he begged? Oh! Or how about how  _hot_  tho-  _AAAAHG_!” The man explained enthusiastically, but John couldn’t do it, he couldn’t sit and listen to exactly  _how_  these sick sons of bitches damaged his son. But he definitely wasn’t going to let them get away with it either, so to shut him up he bent down and pressed his thumb into the wound on the man’s thigh.

 

Without another word he decided it was time for them to suffer, to pay for all they did, to Sam, to all those other children who would never have a normal life again, and he would make it so, that when the cops found his corpse, he would be completely unrecognizable, just a dead man, thrown in a corner, for all of his sins.  He hurt the man, cutting him, and making him cry, and he really wouldn’t have stopped but an hour later he was just a piece of messed up meat, and one of the hunters interfered.

 

“John- John! That’s enough, It’s enough man, look at him, he’s dead.. John he’s dead. Stop.” Said Weiss prying the blade from his hand, and John found himself crying, tears rolling off of his cheek. And the only thing that kept going in his mind was those words. ‘ _He’s dead. He’s dead. He’s dead. He’s dead. He’s dead.’_ The rest of the men were killed, the hunters helped John finish the job, wincing at the mess they’d made, how many they’d killed, but it was worth it, for the look on those kids faces when they left, it was all  _so_  worth it.

 

_*~*~*~*~*~*~*~_

 

At Ellen's house, Sam enjoyed breakfast with Jo on his lap briefly, after finishing his all-too abundant plate of food, he ran to the bathroom clutching at his stomach. All of the contents within threatening to make an unwelcome appearance at the table after some unintentionally induced Dean memories.

 

He clutched at the porcelain bowl on his knees while he expelled the acid from his stomach ungratefully, and heaved until there was nothing left. He sat clutching onto the bowl until the pads of his fingers were numb and white with the pressure, and he was sure he was going to have nasty bruises by the way his knees made a violent connection with the floorboards.

 

The voice of Ellen attempting to calm him and let her into the restroom  he had hastily locked to make space between himself and the whole world, was only interrupting his thoughts and prayers to some force above, that perhaps, just perhaps, this was all just a big fat nightmare.

 

"Sam honey, please open the door" pleaded Ellen from the other side. And Sam was sure he woke up Bill because he was hearing murmured conversation and worried tones. With an effort, he detached himself from where he was crouching, flushed the toilet and turned to the sink in one groggy movement.

 

Looking up from the sink, he was met with his reflection, there was an old mirror, that couldn't have been larger than his hand (if he really spread his fingers) that enjoyed a nice wooden trim around it with many carvings and pretty shapes. It would have been really fascinating and all, if his face wasn't accusingly staring back at him like a sick puppy. He had grey under eye bags that could reach almost to the apples of his cheeks, his face was drained of all color, pale as a bed sheet, and he looked malnourished, his cheekbones were pronounced more than they should have been, but not starved, he still had a lot of baby fat to work out of, but he could still see the difference.

 

His hair did a  _thing_ , it was all tousled on the top, it fell down over his eyes covering his brows, framing his face in very messy dark brown curls, and the back had been patted down in a futile attempt to hide the cowlick from that morning when he woke up.  _'I'm a mess_ ' he thought to himself as he turned one of the handles on the sink, water sputtering out and then in a loud rush. He managed to mostly muffle out the sounds of worried conversation behind the door. Cupping some of the water, he splashed his face, looking back up at how the drops slid and left wet tracks on his cheeks, some of it clinging onto the curls that got in the way making them even darker.

 

As he reached out to the towel that was pitifully clinging from the hook on the wall, he realized he was running out of time to be alone, as soon as he walked out that door he would be bombarded with questions and feelings and worried looks, when in reality all he wanted to do was lie down and never open his eyes again.

 

"Alright alright I'm coming." He said as he unlocked the door and opened it hoping they wouldn't pry on how he was feeling or if he wanted to talk about anything. He  _really_  wasn't in the mood.

***

"Oh Sam..." was all Ellen could muster when she saw the boy standing in front of her. He looked...   _heartsick_. Completely in despair, he had a look on his face she had only seen on grown men some of which whose families had been murdered, men who had seen too much and been loved too little. It was a look of absolute sadness, like there was nothing in this world living for, and she swore that she never wanted to see that look on a child's face ever again.

 

She didn't trust her voice to say any words that would actually provide any real comfort in this situation, so she did what her motherly instincts told her to do. She reached around the boy and pulled him into a hug, fierce with love and emotion, sadness and sympathy. He was limp in her arms, like maybe he was in shock, or just so broken he couldn't move, but all that made her do was hold on tighter, and she was pretty sure he was having trouble breathing, if the soft wheezing was anything to go by.

 

And that's when she realized he was crying, sobbing in her arms, face turned in and tucked into the crook of her neck, arms still hanging besides him, but his body was slung on her, like he didn't have the strength in his knees to hold himself up. And all that did to her was continue to tear at her sympathetic heart, because there was really nothing she could do to help him, or console him. Other than of course, telling him that his brother was alive, but she couldn't do that, she had promised John and he would probably skin her alive if she said a single word.

 

"Sammy dear," she said after a long minute, but immediately felt the boy tense under her, and the sobs that had now been fading away into hiccups came back stronger than ever into outward cries, and she considered that maybe she had said something wrong.

 

"Oh honey I'm so  _so_  sorry" she pleaded uselessly, while rubbing his back with the circular motions of her palm.

 

"Shh, I know _. I know_." She said after a while, when Sam was regaining composure and trying to  explain himself, but that didn't get very far, he was all snot-nosed with tears, face still stuffed in her neck, and he had a breathing hitch from the crying, so words really weren't going to work for him right now. 

***

After what felt like thirty minutes, Sam slowly peeled himself from her looking down at his feet, and an embarrassed look on his face while he was fidgeting furiously with the hem of his shirt.

 

" 'M Sorry Ellen, I just miss Dean, and dad, and-" he had to stop, because the tears were threatening to start pouring again, so he rolled his eyes upward and took a deep breath before continuing. "I just wish he could find him so we could be home again" he finished, carefully avoiding the part where he totally hated himself for everything that had happened, he was sure that all that would accomplish would be another embarrassment for himself and another hug from Ellen, which was great by the way, but one soul crushing hug a day was good thanks.

 

"It's alright dear, no need to explain, I completely understand" she said with a sad smile on her face, and  _gosh_ , when we're people going to stop feeling bad for him?  _He_ was the one that started this whole disaster.

 

"Thanks Ellen" he replied, and he wasn't looking forward to standing in awkward silence forever so he asked.

 

"Um, I- is it okay if I go outside for a bit? I kind of need some fresh air." He rushed, almost stuttering his words.

 

"Of course honey!" She replied enthusiastically, and when were the nicknames going to stop? Not that he didn't like them, but it was just one of those things that reminded him of Dean.

 

"Great, thanks" he muttered, as he walked back down the hall to the room that was now his.

He threw on a jacket, and changed into a new shirt, the other one had tears and snot and sweat from all the crying, and a little of vomit too, so he needed a change of fresh clothes. Achingly, all of his clothes were once Dean's but he tried to just change and keep his head as clear as possible to try and avoid totally girly breakdown. And as much as he would enjoy lying down to die right now, he was itching with the need to just go outside and breathe.

 

Making his way out of the house, he told Ellen that he'd only be out for ten minutes, and she told him there was a nice old play ground around back if he was interested. As he closed the door, he was met with a gust of wind that picked up  some of the leaves on the  ground, throwing them about. It was a gloomy day, like the sun feared coming out and hid behind the clouds that were grey in the wake of rain.

 

The grass hadn't been trimmed and was tall, it reached Sam's knees and the soil beneath it was almost muddy, but not enough to sink in. He trotted out and around the house, it was a considerable size, and the yard was pretty big itself. As Ellen had said, there was an old rusty playground out back that had two swings, one of which had a baby seat on it, for toddlers like Jo.  

 

Sam no longer fit in the baby swings, Dean and him had tested that theory about two months ago by getting him stuck on one of them and it took a lot of pulling and hanging Sam up side down to get it off. It had left a nasty circular bruise around his upper thigh where it became lodged. Dean had been endlessly pissed that Sam now had to use the 'Big boy swings' but helped push Sam on them nevertheless. Realizing that Dean wasn't around to push the swing for him, he decided it would be useless to even get on it, he never bothered to learn how to swing himself, after all, Dean was always there to push him.

 

Walking away from the memory, he saw a rusted slide that was sure to give a nasty burn to anyone who decided it would be a good idea to slide down there in shorts. There was also a set of monkey bars that crossed each other in an X and reached the floor on all ends. Sam saw the opportunity and took it, climbing up the ladder and sitting on the top right where both ladders crossed, creating a perfect box for him to sit in.

 

As he sat there trying to not let the all too fresh and abundant memories of Dean wash on him, he spotted a door, one that was on the ground, that opened upwards, and probably led to the basement of the house. As he tried to convince himself out of it, the curiosity got the better of him and he jumped off the bars with a leap. Once he approached the green wooden doors that were slightly elevated by planks, he pulled one open by the platinum handle on the front, and that when he noticed, 'Its silver, to protect against monsters… Interesting' he thought. Before pulling the doors open, he noticed another peculiar thing, there were tiny engravings all around the door, sigils, protection symbols, he had seen all of them in Johns journal he read once. Assuming he'd be safer in there than outside where he had been ogling at the door, he pulled it open and leaped inside, being met with a small ladder that reached the bottom. It was about eight feet down, but the ladder looked sturdy enough, so in he went.

 

The basement was dark once he went inside, ‘too dark’ so he padded around the walls searching for a light switch. All of a sudden he felt something touch his back, well more like graze it, but the speed in which he turned around left him dizzy. Batting out with his hands like a mad man fighting a bee, he found that it was simply a string, so he gave it an experimental tug, and voila just like that his darkness problem was solved.

 

Sam was genuinely a fearless child, even though he had many nightmares, he knew about the things that went bump in the night, and thanks to his father’s apparently fearless nature, he grew up with ‘Shoot first ask questions later’ like his brother, so as you would come to find, not many six year olds would go wandering and enter a dark and seemingly endless basement in the house of a stranger just because.

 

Laughing at himself silently for getting startled ‘not scared, no’ of the very thing he was searching for, he looked around the room and absorbed his surroundings. The basement was large, it’s four long walls formed a perfect rectangle, and the side walls were lined with shelves that stocked so many books it really was starting to look like a library, well maybe except for the armory that was securely sheltered by glass in a metal box to his right, ‘easy access in emergencies’ he thought, feeling smug for coming to that conclusion he continued to observe.

 

The floor was covered in sigils and protections to ward against any unwelcome visitors and Sam wondered what Ellen kept in here that was to be secured so much. Giving it thought now, it wasn’t all that secure, Sam had gotten in without a problem. But maybe it wasn’t meant to be protected against people, and that begun to make sense.

 

There was a table in the center, that hade pages sprawled all over in a very messy disorganized matter, very unlike what John’s work looked like, all of his notes were perfectly lined, evenly spaced from each other, neat letters and drawings in right places, and all of a sudden Sam felt the need to clean it all up and put it in its place, but he controlled himself and he was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to be in here anyways, much less touching things.

 

Walking down to tie table to get a closer look at the papers spread out on top, something caught his eye, down to the right under one of the shelves, there was a chest, well at least it looked like one. Tip toeing over he saw that once again it was warded with sigils, marks and something about this was particular… and was that? Oh that is so cool. Enchantments they were enchantments, but for what? And what was their purpose? The chest was locked with a rusty iron chain that went around from both sides, over and under the chest. Huh. Ghost proof, and human proof, interesting. Just as he was going to give it an experimental touch, he was interrupted.

 

“Sam? Sam!? Honey where ar- Oh!” she exclaimed in amusement when she looked into the basement, Sam had accidentally left the doors open. ‘stupid stupid stupid’ he thought to himself. But quickly regained his thoughts, he needed to come up with an excuse, and quick.

 

“What are you doing down here darling? It’s dangerous and I was beginning to worry about you” she said once she made her way down the ladder. And if Sam heard right… did she say ‘dangerous?’ hmm..

 

“Y-yeah sorry Ellen, I.. I um got bored and kinda wandered off a bit. Sorry” he apologized. She gave a chuckle and a understanding nod as she stretched her hand out to him

 

“It’s okay dear, you must be bored out of your mind, but lunch is ready so we should go eat.” She said, and if Sam was worried she was going to scold him, or be angry, her soothing tone definitely got rid of that thought. But then her words repeated in his head and…

 

“Lunch?! Already?!” he asked, amazed at how much these people ate and in what a short space of time too, I mean he might not be from Nebraska but he was sure people didn’t normally eat like this.

 

“Yes dear, You’ve been out here for hours! You’re not hungry?” she questioned, a worried look seeped across her face. After this morning, she must have thought it was just temporary sickness but now she was clearly worrying again, at a much quicker pace. So he jumped to quell her thoughts.

 

“No! No, yeah! Starving, “ he lied “Just didn’t realize how long I’d been here ‘s all” he replied as quickly as possible, and the worried look, to his satisfaction, disappeared to a smile once again on her pretty rounded face. Ellen was a nice looking woman, and he didn’t really like making her worry, it gave her these lines on her face that he wished weren’t there at all, because for some reason, she reminded him of his mother, and even though he didn’t have any actual memories of her, he imagined she would be like Ellen, kind, and loving, and sweet, and she’d know how to cook and make cookies and sing lullabies to him when he went to sleep. He found himself spacing out staring into nothing as Ellen, once again, with all the patience in the world, reminded him where he was.

 

“Sam, honey? Are you alright?” and apparently she had been talking before too, due to the clearly concerned look on her face. And again Sam managed to place those worried little lines on her face, ‘again’ he thought. ‘I’m really causing her more trouble than I’m worth.’ Looking back up from where he had been blankly staring at nothing in particular, he gave her his biggest smile and crushed his face into her stomach with a hug, managing to expel a startled ‘oof’ from her in the process.

 

Before she could manage any words, or questions for that matter, he pulled back and looking into her eyes simply said a “Thank you” and ran up the ladder, leaving a very shocked and confused Ellen behind.

 


End file.
